Actor Kerry Sandomirsky – who has more than 130 stage and screen credits – is making her producing debut with the Vancouver première of The Sound Inside, written by Adam Rapp, which was nominated for six Tony Awards in 2020, including best play. The Nov. 14-24 performances at Vancity Culture Lab represent two other milestones – the first production of Sandomirksy’s newly established company, all day breakfast theatre, and the launch of the Search Party’s New Cartography initiative.
“I was looking for something to produce, so I was reading a lot of scripts,” Sandomirsky, who is Jewish, told the Independent. “There was something about The Sound Inside that kept pulling me back. Adam Rapp describes it as haunting, and I think I was haunted by it. My aunt and uncle who live in LA are avid theatre-goers. On two previous occasions they have suggested work I should consider. Coincidently, those pieces became important touchstones in my career. When I was in the middle of negotiating rights for The Sound Inside, they contacted me once again about this compelling show they had just seen. I hung up and bought the rights.”
Being a producer comprises multiple responsibilities.
“Producing involves raising money, putting a team together, creating a budget, getting insurance, finding a theatre, organizing and initiating publicity and marketing campaigns, and ensuring the production is created in a supportive environment,” said Sandomirsky. “So often in life we are in a state of reactive business, and producing was a way for me to take agency.”
Sandomirsky not only produces The Sound Inside, but co-stars in it with Jacob Leonard; Mindy Parfitt, founding artistic director of the Search Party, directs.
Sandomirsky portrays the character of Bella Baird, “an under-appreciated novelist and tenured creative writing professor who forms an unlikely bond with a mysterious yet talented student, Christopher Dunn,” played by Leonard, who happens to have been a student of Sandomirsky’s when she taught at Studio 58. “Brimming with suspense, Rapp’s riveting play explores the limits of what one person can ask of another,” reads one description of the 90-minute play.
“The Sound Inside is about two people who have isolated themselves from the world, but, to their great surprise, find in each other a reprieve from loneliness,” said Sandomirsky of the play’s appeal. “It is about the delight of connection, the joy of a shared sense of humour, and the power of being seen.”
“The Search Party created New Cartography as a response to Kerry’s desire to produce The Sound Inside,” Parfitt told the Independent. “It has been a way for us to expand how we create theatre and to identify ways we can support and encourage artists to develop themselves.”
The Search Party’s website notes that the initiative’s purpose is “to provide mid-career and established artists an opportunity to develop new aspects of their practice. Initiated by the artist, it provides hands-on practical experience in a previously unexplored area of their own creative landscape. Through the New Cartography program, artists receive mentorship, resources, tools and systems in theatre production.”
An application process for the initiative isn’t in place yet, said Parfitt. But, if artists are interested, they can contact her through the company’s website, searchpartyproductions.com.
“There are many aspects to this process which are new for me,” Parfitt said. “Kerry brought me the script. She and Jacob had done considerable work on it before I got involved and so there was some catching up for me to do. This is unusual as a director. Usually that process is completely reversed.
“We have been rehearsing part-time over several weeks, which also is different from the complete immersion that all of us are used to,” she continued. “The Search Party is dedicated to marrying a strong design with a compelling script. Kerry’s company – all day breakfast theatre – prioritizes actor-driven theatre. is an exploration in uniting our two visions.”
“Mindy has been instrumental in demystifying the many logistics of producing,” said Sandomirsky. “She has provided practical advice and infrastructural support. The experience has given both of us an opportunity to make theatre in a new way.”
For tickets to The Sound Inside, visit thecultch.com/ticket/the-sound-inside.